


The Day the World Changed

by TheBrunetteWeasley



Series: Family Comes First [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Laura is Clint's sister in law, On the Run, Oneshot, SHIELD Agent Darcy Lewis, SHIP DARCY WITH ALL THE THINGS, first in a series, tws au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-25
Updated: 2017-07-25
Packaged: 2018-12-06 23:46:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11611470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBrunetteWeasley/pseuds/TheBrunetteWeasley
Summary: Darcy Lewis, Agent of SHIELD and liaison to the head of the Avengers programme, Jasper Sitwell, was having a bad morning before her train was stopped and everyone was being made to get off it. But the text from her fiancé made things worse straight away.





	The Day the World Changed

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written anything in...a long time. This is me dipping my toes back into the pond of writing. I've ideas for a full series, but lets be honest, one shots are my jam. So we'll see.

SHIELD fell on a Wednesday. When SHIELD fell, Darcy Lewis was on the metro, heading into her job as Jasper Sitwell’s assistant, and was jolted when the train came to a sudden stop in the tunnel, somewhere underneath Theodore Roosevelt Island. She picked herself up, and checked her cell for signal as a reflex, shrugging when she saw the no signal as expected.

“Sorry for the delay, we’ve been told that all trains need to get to the nearest station and disembark passengers. Our next station is Rosslyn. Transit police will be there to help you get to your destination.”

It took another few minutes for them to get to the station, and Darcy followed the crowd out of the train, and up the escalator to the ground. As soon as people reached cell signal, phones started buzzing. Darcy pulled hers out, and checked, seeing two messages from Clint on it. Thumbing it open, she let out a small gasp, then straightened up and followed the crowd outside. Pulling her hair out of the clip that kept it up, and walked over to an Arlington PD officer outside.

“Officer…I live out near Benning Road station, is there a way I can get home? I don’t know what’s happening.” She pushed her bottom lip out slightly, and used her big eyes to her advantage.

“Get an Uber, and head straight home. Don’t stop for anything, we’re not sure what’s happening. The bridges aren’t closed though, it’s part of the Captain America manhunt that’s going on.”

She gave him a smile, pulled out her phone, and was glad to see that surge pricing hadn’t kicked in yet. Five minutes later, there was a car, and she got into it, opening her texts to make sure it was what she thought it was. But there, in black letters, was the code that he’d made her memorise before she’d moved to DC. “Hey babe, I got kept late at work. Make sure to make me dinner, and keep it warm for me. See you at home.” If anyone had opened her phone, they wouldn’t notice anything different, but she knew it.

The Uber left her at Cleveland Park metro, and she walk-ran the last few minutes home, tossing her work phone in the metro station trash can. She arrived at the colonial style house that she and Clint had been renting, and got to work. Pulling out both of their go bags, she left them by the front door, ready to grab as she left the house. She brought Lucky in, and put his bag of food beside their bags, as well as his water bowl and some toys that were nearby. She took her phone and put it in the toilet, flushing for good measure. The next step was to take her laptop and Clint’s old desktop, and rip them open, pulling out the hard drives from within. They were backed up on a secure server, but the hard drives could potentially be discovered. She put them in the bottom of her go-bag, before looking around the house, wondering what to take. What could sum up a year and a half of living together? She grabbed the framed photo of their engagement party, with the team that Clint was handling and Natasha around them, as well as most of her makeup collection. The last thing was the golf club bag, which even when opened looked like it was clubs, until you realised they broke down to make a bow and there were arrows inside each of them.

The pile at the front door was small, but it was all that they could take with them. She brought the bags out to the back of the pickup truck she was glad she hadn’t overruled Clint’s paranoia on, and then put the small wheeled suitcase in, and the golf club bag. She pulled the tarp tight, and went back inside for a last look around their home.

Darcy quickly changed into leggings and a flannel shirt, and threw a couple more flannels and changes of underwear into her big handbag, covering the wad of cash she pulled from their safe. She put a pair of sneakers on top, just in case someone went looking. The last thing she did was burn her SHIELD ID, her Darcy Lewis drivers license and Clint’s license. Making sure they were just ash, she found the chip from inside her SHIELD ID. That went into the toilet, next to her waterlogged phone. The last things she did before locking the door was clip Lucky’s leash onto his collar, change the charm on his collar from their real numbers to her burner phone, and pull the burner phone out of the hall table, switching it on. She slipped it into her hoodie pocket and put on the alarm, locking the door behind her and Lucky.

As she got to the bottom of the drive, her next door neighbour was walking up, and stopped.

“Darcy! What are you doing heading out?” She asked, staring at Darcy’s big bag and Lucky on the leash.

“I’m bringing Lucky out to the dog park in Bethesda. I think we’re better off getting out of the city for the day! I just got to the train when I heard what was happening, I just want to stay away.” Darcy made herself sound scared, and Shirley, her neighbour, caught it immediately.

“You’re right, you are. Are you meeting Clint out there?” She smiled, and Darcy smiled back, twisting her engagement ring with her thumb.

“I am. He was out in Walter Reed doing some physio, so he’s well away from what’s going on! I think a relaxing day is just what we need. I better get Lucky in the car before he needs to pee again. I’ll see you later, Shirley!”

Darcy got into the car, and switched on the engine, pulling away. From the end of the block, she spotted Shirley go back into her house, and she drove back, switching vehicles. Few people in the neighbourhood knew they had the truck, so the car not being moved wouldn’t make people suspicious for a week. And a week was enough time.

Fortunately, the roads weren’t closed yet, and Darcy made it out to Bethesda in good time. She pulled onto I-270, and started heading west. She made sure to blend into the traffic, especially close to the city, but once she merged onto I-70 she relaxed a little bit, petting Lucky and feeling him relax under her fingers. Once they reached Pennsylvania, she found a truck stop and pulled over to stretch her legs, and let Lucky pee and drink some water. She poured her water bottle into his bowl, and watched him lap it all up. After he’d peed and was watered, she cracked the windows in the truck a little, and left him on the front seat with a chew toy.

Darcy pulled her cap further down as she went in, and looked through the candy and sodas they had, picking up a gallon bottle of water and some 24oz bottles of coke, before picking the best looking sandwich that was there, and some candy to keep her awake. The last purchase she made was filling the largest travel cup they had with coffee, before adding some sugars and hazelnut creamer. She paid cash for everything, and went back out to the pickup, ignoring the look that some of the tractor trailer drivers gave her as she walked. Getting in, Lucky looked up at her, and then settled back to destroying his kong. Darcy settled her coffee in the cup holder, picked up the burner phone and checked the texts, and then pulled off.

She pulled in another three hours later, and let Lucky pee and drink to his heart’s content, before buying another coffee for herself. At this stop, she bought a tub of Jif and took a plastic knife, and scraped peanut butter inside the Kong before letting Lucky at it again. Darcy knew she was somewhere in Ohio, and decided to call her destination, to see what was happening.

“I’m not buying anything you’re cold selling, so you can hang up.”

“Is it cold seeing when it’s expected?” Darcy asked, hoping she’d remembered the phrase correctly.

“Darcy. Thank God. Are you ok? Where are you?”

“I’m somewhere a few states between where I was and where I’m going, but I’m on my way. Are all of you guys ok? I’m not sure what happened.” She knew the lines weren’t secure, but she didn’t know anything, and she was desperate for something.

“I don’t know. Roger was in trouble, but now he’s not. He and the kids aunt brought hell, along with someone else. Their aunt is ok, but I don’t know how the uncle is yet, he hasn’t checked in. Have you heard from him?”

“I got a text at 7.30 telling me to come out this way. I’ve got the dog with me, so we’re stopping for breaks with him. It means I’m getting a rest every so often too. What time is it?” Darcy didn’t know if her phone time was right, and she knew the time in the car was at least an hour out, if not more.

“It’s 4.30 here. Do you want me to leave some dinner hot for you, or will you get a motel?”

“I wouldn’t feel safe in one tonight, I need to get there and find out where he is. We’ll keep going, but I’ll text this phone if I’m stopping for sleep. Tell the kids that I miss them, and that Auntie D is gonna spend some time with them for a while. How’s their dad?”

“On another business trip out west. I’ll fill you in when you get here. Text me when you reach our timezone.”

They hung up, and Darcy breathed a sigh of relief she didn’t really feel. Laura was safe, and the kids were ok. Barney was on some undercover job that couldn’t be said over unsecured lines, and they hadn’t heard from Clint. And Steve and Tasha were ok. It was more than she’d hoped for, but she was still afraid for her archer. He was only human, not like any of the others. Wiping the tears that were threatening to overflow away, she pushed a CD into the player, and let the playlist she’d titled ‘Running Away’ when it was on her iPod wash over her as they drove.

It took two more stops, but she finally saw a ‘Welcome to Iowa’ sign as they crossed on route-34, and she forced herself to relax. The farm that Laura and Barney owned was ten miles outside Mount Pleasant, around 60 miles from where she crossed into the state. If she pushed, she could be there in an hour. The route was burned into her brain, and she drove on instinct, fuelled by caffeine and sugar. Finally, at what she thought was around 1am, she pulled up the gravelled drive. There was a figure on the porch, and it stood, a shotgun in hand. For one moment Darcy thought she’d gotten the wrong farm, but then she remembered the headlight signal they’d worked out, and she did it. The gun went down, and Laura ran to her, pulling the door open and wrapping her in a hug.

Darcy had met Clint’s sister in law four times, but it felt like she was coming home. She grabbed onto her, finally letting her tears come out. They stayed like that for a moment, before Darcy did a big sniff, and let her go. Lucky had lifted his head, and he butted it under Darcy’s arm. She rubbed him, and stepped out of the car, letting him crawl across the bench seat and get out. He sniffed at the grass, and moved towards Darcy, who’d taken some deep breaths and stared up at the night sky, relieved to be there.

“Do I need to know anything, or do anything?” Darcy asked, turning back to Laura. Her body didn’t know what to do with not needing to run.

“Clint’s safe. He should be here by morning, and said good job on the house. He also told the neighbour that your Mom was sick, so you’d gotten the train to see her in Maine, because there were no flights. He did a last run through, and said he’s bringing some extra things with him, so that you guys can bed down here for the next while. He also said he’d try to explain what he knew, but to call Nat’s fifth number, and she would explain some stuff. He said she wouldn’t be sleeping for the next day or so, so call whenever. Do you want to do that now?”

Darcy had made herself concentrate, but the most important thing that she’d heard was that Clint was ok. She smiled at Laura, and nodded.

“Yeah. I need to know what happened so I can actually get some sleep. What room am I in?”

:”I made up the bed in the attic for you and Clint. I figured you’d need to crash after the drive. Do you want a sandwich? I’ve got some fixings.”

Darcy nodded, and sat down in a chair, her legs almost giving way from underneath her. Laura put a sandwich in front of her, and she was just happy to be eating something that hadn’t been made days ago and put in a freezer. Once she was full, she stood up, and motioned to Lucky to bring him outside to pee.

“Is it ok if he comes up with me? I didn’t bring a bed for him, I couldn’t put it in the truck.” Darcy held her hand against the doorframe, keeping herself upright as exhaustion hit her.

“Of course. Tomorrow night the kids will probably want him with them, but you get him for tonight. Then when you and Clint work out what’s happening we can sort it out, if you want to stay here for a while. Barney thinks he’ll be home in a couple of months, and you guys can be here as long as you want.”

Darcy went up to bed, and Lucky followed her, curling up at the bottom of the bed, the way he was allowed when they’d had a bad day.

“Kids, get back here. Aunt Darcy got in late, so let her sleep!” Laura tried hissing, but Darcy was used to waking up at small noises, so she woke, seeing two kids slinking from the room. She sat up, dislodging Lucky from her foot, and called out to them.

“So there’s my two favourite nieces and nephews.” she said, voice slightly thick with sleep. They came back, and Darcy fell back onto the mattress, covered in the kids holding onto her. They let go after a moment, and she sat back up.

“Aunt Darcy! How long are you staying?” Lila asked, her two front teeth missing.

“I dunno yet, Sweetie. It depends on when your daddy gets back, and what Uncle Clint and aunt Tasha say. I wanna stay for a while for you though, I’ve missed you guys! I’m gonna get dressed, will you give me a few minutes?” They waved and left the room, and Darcy stood, changing her shirt and putting a bra on. She put on fresh underwear, but kept on her leggings till she could get her stuff out of the truck. When she walked to the door, Lucky followed her downstairs, and she went straight out to the truck, to get his bowls and food. Once he was sated, she went back in to see her family.

Lila and Cooper were arguing over who got to sit next to Darcy, which was settled when she sat at one end of the table, one child at either side of her. They all had a plate of pancakes, and ate quickly, emptying the plates. Once they were finished, Laura gave both children a look, and they bought their plates to the sink, before slinking into the room their mother used as a school room. Darcy stood, and started cleaning the dishes, getting a smile from Laura as she turned into teacher-mom mode. Once it was done, she switched on the laptop and went looking up exactly what was going on. And immediately became terrified.

Every single SHIELD file was online. All of them. And because she’d been Sitwell’s assistant - and that her boss hadn’t gone looking for her was becoming a worry - hers had been downloaded a lot. She downloaded it, and started searching for everyone that she knew. After 30 minutes, she’d hers, Clints, Barneys, and most of the Avengers. Jane and Erik also had files, and she made a mental note to get in touch with them soon.

Clicking on her file, she opened it, and the most shocking thing about the word document was how long it was. It started with her childhood, even her report cards were in it. All of Jane’s work that she’d been on went onto the file, and as she skimmed she became more and more upset by it. There was a note at the end of the file that she’d been in a relationship with Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye, but that it wasn’t considered to be serious.  
She didn’t open Clint’s, but looked at the bare bones of Natasha’s. Barney’s was very involved, but his family section was empty. She called Laura over as she read.

“Laura, do you have a contact for Barney while he’s on his trip?” She was careful to use the words she knew the kids had heard about them.

“Yeah, and if needed we can get him out now cause he’s only been on a little while. Why?”

“He’s been compromised. Get him out. Now.” Laura picked up a phone and dialled a number, going upstairs to make the call away from prying ears. Darcy stayed there, reading over the files, until the doorbell rang in three sharp blasts. Once the bell had stopped, there were knocks on the door, in a rhythm. It took a few moments, but she realised that it was the Star Spangled Man with the Plan. Standing, she went to the door and opened it to her fiancé.

Clint stood there, a black eye darkening and a smile reopening a split lip as he saw her. It took a second for it to register it was him, but she grabbed onto him, holding him close. They were only together for a moment before Lila and Cooper came running out, yelling for Uncle Clint, barrelling into Darcy’s back. She just managed to stop them from pushing her into Clint, holding firm and pushing them back.

“Give him a few minutes, guys. It’s been a long drive! Will you go get the bags out of the car and bring them up to my room?” They ran out to follow Darcy’s orders, Lucky following behind. Clint held onto Darcy’s hand as she led him to the kitchen, and sat him down to inspect his wounds. “Where hurts?”

“Everywhere? I probably should have had stitches on a cut on my shoulder, and I’ve a cracked rib or two. I barely got out, Darce…it was terrifying. Check me when the kids aren’t around though, I don’t want them seeing this.” Darcy nodded, and blocked the kids from running them over when they came back downstairs.

“Hey! Uncle Clint needs to get some sleep, it’s a long drive. And I seem to remember some people who were doing school work before he got here?” Darcy fixed them with a glare, and they left, going back into the school room. Laura walked in, her face creased with worry.

“Did you get him in time?” Clint asked, seeing how she looked.

“Just about. He’s driving, but won’t be here for a while. He knew about the leak, but none of them thought that it would include his file. He was in Oregon, left yesterday and stopped to dye his hair and shave the beard he’d been growing. He wants to throw a potential tail off his scent, so he’s gonna go north to Canada in Montana.He’s spending a day or two in Grassmere, then he’ll come back down through another crossing. He said he’d call when he gets to the hotel in Grassmere, should be a couple of hours.”

Laura sat, and Clint put an arm around her shoulders, grimacing as he did it. Both women caught it, and Laura gave him a look.

“Have you gotten looked at?”

“Darce was gonna bring me up to do it in a few. Didn’t want to do it in front of the kids, you know.” A small smile crossed Laura’s lips, as she stood and went over to the cabinet under their sink.

“Here’s our medicine stuff. Darcy, you ok treating anything? Or do you want me to do any of it? I kept my RN license.” She handed over what looked like a well stocked toolbox to Darcy, who smiled.

“I should be ok for most of it, but if he needs a load of stitches, or needs stuff covered because he didn’t get it stitched in time, then I’ll be calling you up.” Darcy stood, lifting the toolbox up with one hand, using the other to coax Clint out of his chair. “We’ll be down soon. Or I will, anyway.”

They got up the stairs to the attic room, and Clint sat on the chair in front of the dresser.

“Where did you get hit?” Darcy asked, her voice even. She’d helped Clint with injuries before, when he’d been on tough missions and had needed to be home with her and Lucky, rather than going to medical after a debrief.

“I’ve a few bruises on my ribs from the Kevlar stopping shots. Darce…people I trained were going to kill me. Without a second thought.” She could tell his shock was setting in, and she concentrated on unbuttoning his shirt, getting it over his shoulders. He still had the kevlar on, and she could see one of the bullets just embedded in it.

“Babe…I’m going to need to get this off you. I’m going to use the emergency path, to make it easier. If it hurts too much, let me know. Your adrenaline is wearing off so you’re going to feel it.” Clint nodded, and Darcy tugged on the quick release tab, pulling the front away and letting the back fall into the chair. Clint took a deep breath, as if his body had been waiting for the weight to come off his chest. There were three circular bruises on it, looking as if he’d painted some of his archery targets onto his torso.

There were also some angry welts on his ribs, and Darcy could tell they were probably cracked. They didn’t look like they’d been broken, and there was no visible difference in the bone structure compared to the other side. Clint had some cuts on his forearms, two of them that should have had stitches but didn’t, and various other scrapes. His legs had gotten away with just some bruises, which explained why he was fine driving when the rest of his body showed he probably shouldn’t have been.

“There’s a couple of things we need to do. First, I’m gonna wrap your ribs. I think they’re cracked, but there’s no bone differences, so they’re probably not broken. Then I’m gonna clean out your cuts fully, and wrap the bad ones back up. It’s been too long for stitches, they’d just increase the infection risk. Laura should have some paper ones that will work to hold it together. Then, when you’ve told me what happened, we’ll put on some brave faces, and go downstairs for dinner. You’ll play with the kids and hear about school today, and then we’ll come back up here, and I’m going to hold you while you cry. And you’re gonna complain about the last part, but you’re gonna do it anyway so it should be with me.”

Darcy stayed true to her word, wrapping his ribs as carefully as she could, making sure the bandages were tight enough to support, but wouldn’t cut off any blood supply. Once that was done, she stared Clint down to take some painkillers, and she got to work on the cuts. Once they’d been bandaged, wrapped and taken care of, she picked up some arnica cream, and rubbed it into the black eye that had formed, as well as gently on the bullet bruises. Her last thing to do was to pick up a soft flannel she’d brought, and help him into it. Once it was finished, he looked slightly more awake.

“I’m gonna lie down when we talk, ok? Do you wanna lie down with me too?” He was hesitant, and avoided looking directly at Darcy. The last time he’d been like this was when she’d arrived in New York for Coulson’s funeral, and worry tore through Darcy at the memories. But she lay down beside him, and they wrapped around each other as Clint explained everything that had happened at the Triskelion, and the betrayal that both of them had received at the hands of Sitwell.

When Darcy woke, her face was stiff with dried in tears, and Clint was jerking in his sleep. Her mind shot into focus as she carefully rolled off the bed, and stood up. She faced Clint, and called his name out.

“Clint. Clint. Clint!” Her voice went sightly louder at each call of his voice, and he finally jerked awake at the last one.

“Nightmare. It was a nightmare.” He said, just loudly enough for Darcy to hear. She went back over to the bed, and offered Clint a hand up. He took it, groaning as the pain in his ribs fully set in.

“Painkiller, then dinner. C’mon, it’s four so we can head down. Do I look ok?” She smiled at him, rubbing at her eyes as she did.

“You always look great, you know that.” They held hands walking down the stairs, descending into chaos. Cooper and Lila were on the couch, having a tickle fight with someone. It stopped when they came down, and their victim stood up, looking at Clint and Darcy. She smiled, and Natasha came over to embrace Darcy.

“I didn’t know if you’d gotten out of DC or not, until I arrived here and Lucky met me. Good job,” she whispered, before separating and giving Clint a glare. Laura arrived into the sitting room, and hugged Natasha too.

“I’ve got dinner on, so we’re good. Clint, go sit down and keep my kids occupied, their Dad will be home in four days so they’re excited. Darcy, Tasha, will you help me in the kitchen?” They separated, and Darcy followed the other two women in.

Because I’ve got around five minutes before Clint comes in, or sends one of the kids in, Natasha, fill me in on what you know. If there’s something you know that Tasha didn’t cover, fill it in after, Darce. I need to know what we’re facing here.

Natasha explained everything that had happened - SHIELD falling, Steve being public enemy number one, a friend they’d made, what was happening with project insight, and that Steve and Sam were off searching for Bucky Barnes, who was still alive.

“Darce, you’ve about thirty seconds. What do you know?”

“I was next on Hydra’s list of people to try convert, Sitwell didn’t know that Clint and I were living together, or even that we were engaged, but thought I’d be how Hydra could get to Clint. He was going to try get to me on Wednesday, they thought they’d have enough time. Clint’s estimating that sixty percent of SHIELD were Hydra. I can’t go back to DC, and I don’t know what’s going to happen. Fuck. What am I going to do? My entire life is out in the world…I’ve got student loans to pay back.” Darcy paused, clutching the kitchen counter beside her, as the enormity of what had happened fully hit her. She was 25, unemployed because she’d worked for a supranational shadow organisation that had publicly gone kaboom, she had student loans to pay and didn’t know what she’d do.

Both women stood beside her, holding her up. Natasha was the first to break the silence. “I have money. You’re not going to go bankrupt, Darcy. Stark’s been bugging me to move into his eyesore since he got it fully repaired, I know he wants Clint there. You were more than Sitwell’s assistant, you’ll get a job there. You have this.” She squeezed Darcy’s hand, and when Darcy looked up, Tasha was staring her straight in the eyes.

“We’ve got this. Ok.”


End file.
